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The ABLA 2009 Conference will take place against the background of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation and the 2010 Belgian Presidency of the European Union. ABLA 2009 will be hosted by the University of Antwerp's Research Unit for Applied Language Studies.

The main purpose of this gathering is to provide a meeting place for Belgian applied linguistic researchers and practitioners where they can generate ideas on language related issues, foster a stronger and larger community, and disseminate as well as promote research in applied linguistics. We especially welcome active participation from junior researchers and students who are interested in any areas of language learning and teaching at any levels.

The one-day event includes a plenary talk by Prof. Annick De Houwer (Erfurt-Antwerp) on The myth of the monolithic monolingual speaker: Implications for approaching bilingualism and second language learning, parallel presentations, a poster session and partner search for (young) researchers as well as discussions in workgroups on ABLA's future within AILA-Europe. In 2009 two research prizes will be awarded: the ABLA Prize 2009 for Best Master-thesis in Applied Linguistics and the ACCO Prize 2009 for Best Innovative Research in Applied Linguistics.

The conference languages are Dutch, French, German, and English.

Call for Papers:

ABLA invites papers and posters on topics related to any of the ABLA focus areas with special focus on creativity and innovation in language teaching/learning and language use, e.g. the impact of technology, new pedagogical insights and methods, globalisation and language use, language in society, cohabitation in a multilingual context.

Papers present completed research. Selection will be made on the basis of a summary (see procedure below). Presentations will be thematically grouped. Posters report on on-going research. Selection of posters will be made on the basis of a summary. Posters take the format A0. Researchers will be invited to briefly introduce their work during the Young Researchers' Symposium.

Procedure:

Proposals, consisting of two summaries and personal data, are to be handed in electronically before 1 October 2009.

The ABLA-2009 Research Prize:

This year for the first time two research prizes will be awarded:

The ABLA-Research Prize for the best Master-thesis in Applied Linguistics defended either in 2007, 2008, or 2009.

The ACCO-Research Prize for the best innovative research in Applied Linguistics (running or concluded in 2009).

The winning thesis will be awarded 500 EUR. The laureate will hold a ten-minute presentation during the Award Ceremony. The ACCO-Research Prize amounts to 250 EUR and will be awarded to the best innovative research presented during the poster session. The laureate will present his or her research during the Award Ceremony.